New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Amanda Lefton on Feb. 6 told a Long Island Association committee the state is committed to streamlining its environmental review process.
Lefton at a LIA Energy and Environment Committee meeting of more than 150, the biggest crowd the committee has had in years, talked about how economic and environmental interests can coalesce rather than collide — including a proposal to reform the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) process.
“As Long Islanders, we know that things like water quality and natural resources are critical to our livelihood,” Lefton, who grew up in Port Washington, told the group. “These things are not in competition, but actually complement each other.”
She said this is a time when the state faces “federal headwinds” regarding wind and alternative energy, contrary to the state’ “robust environmental” agenda while also focusing on affordability.
Lefton in what could prove a key source of change discussed the governor’s “Let Them Build” agenda and what she and Hochul called “common sense reform” of the roughly 50-year-old SEQRA process.
Hochul in her State of the State speech unveiled a proposal to modify SEQRA. New York City already made some changes to its process.
Lefton said the goal is to “speed up delivery of housing and other critical infrastructure projects that New Yorkers need.”
“Fundamentally, at the heart of this, we want to make it easier to do the right thing,” Lefton said of adding more certainty to environmental review.
She said a two-year timeline for most projects “could be done without compromising our dedication to protecting the environment.”
Hochul said her goal is “to expedite critical categories of projects that have been consistently found to not have adverse environmental impacts.”
Changes, she said, would “allow projects that localities want to move forward and that will not harm the environment do so faster.”
“Unnecessary red tape has stood in the way of new housing and critical infrastructure.” Hochul said. “If local leaders want to deliver new investments for their communities, I say, ‘Let them build.’”
State-mandated environmental review, Hochul said, slows housing projects by two years on average, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars per project.
She said SEQRA review would be subject to a two-year maximum allowing for extensions for exceptions.
And she is seeking to exempt certain types of housing without significant impacts on the environment, subject to local zoning, from additional SEQRA review.
Hochul wants to adjust SEQRA’s classifications to allow certain categories of projects not in need of additional SEQRA review “to start serving New Yorkers faster” such as clean water infrastructure, storm water management, paths in parks and childcare centers.
She called for the state Department of Environmental Conservation to launch “Smart Access,” a platform for applicants and government agencies to follow the progress of permits and environmental reviews and documents. Lefton said DEC plans to create a “single portal” into the permitting process and improve transparency.
“This is part of a larger effort to modernize our agency,” Lefton told the committee.
“In so many ways, Long Island’s environment is our economy,” LIA President and CEO Matt Cohen said, noting the group supports streamlining SEQRA. “They’re inextricably linked.”
Regional Plan Association President CEO Tom Wright already has supported the changes to “help fast-track the smart, sustainable infrastructure our region needs.”
“SEQRA modernization will greenlight the housing, energy, and transit investments New Yorkers support,” Wright has said, “and that our region needs to remain competitive, equitable, and resilient.”
Association for a Better Long Island Executive Director Kyle Strober has noted that “unpredictable timelines and prohibitive soft costs for small to mid-sized projects” delay and add costs.
He has said SEQRA reform could “help spur economic development, create housing and help make New York more affordable.”
And Long Island Contractors’ Association Executive Director Marc Herbst earlier noted that “contractors across Long Island welcome efforts to modernize SEQRA” so that “essential infrastructure projects can move forward in a more timely and predictable way.”
Others at the meeting talked about Lefton as someone who could help facilitate and implement change.
“We’ve seen first-hand her ability to bring government and industry together,” Haugland Group CEO Billy Haugland said. “To replace friction with collaboration.”
